


I Don't Mind

by esnyreddie



Series: Reddie Shorts [1]
Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: ALL THE FLUFF, Cute, Fluff, M/M, Multi, Pining, but mostly fluffy shit, soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-02
Updated: 2019-12-02
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:33:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21649861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/esnyreddie/pseuds/esnyreddie
Summary: Eddie goes to Richie's after a long day at school, not sleeping the night before only making it harder to stay awake. Eddie falls asleep cuddling Richie and when Eddie wakes up he’s embarrassed but Richie doesn’t mind.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Series: Reddie Shorts [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1560793
Comments: 2
Kudos: 152





	I Don't Mind

The day had just started and it already felt so long. After a late night full of homework and reruns with his mother, Eddie ended up pulling an all nighter with zero sleep as he worked on missing homework assignments and a history project that was almost due. On top of all that, his mother began lecturing him about flu season coming up for about an hour before she finally went to her room for the night. 

Getting ready for class was almost impossible. He felt like he was lugging around a thousand pounds around his ankles. He came so close to almost falling asleep in the shower; he had to steady himself with a hand on the wall just to stand up straight. He didn’t even bother to style his hair and just left it in messy, towel dried natural curls. For clothes, he just threw on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt that might have belonged to his friend, Stan, but he didn’t remember. It was a bit big on him, though. 

He walked downstairs, grabbed a banana and said goodbye to his mother. He didn’t have time to sit and eat anything because he was already moving so slow and he didn’t want to be late. He walked out the front door and grabbed his bike and was on his way to school. 

He always met his best friends, Richie and Stan, by the bridge on the way. Today it was only Richie standing there without his bike. Eddie braked quickly but carefully and walked his bike up to Richie. 

The tall boy smiled at Eddie but the smile dropped when he saw the circles under Eddie’s eyes. A worried expression spread across Richie’s features and his eyes softened. “Hey, Eds. You feeling okay? You look so tired!” He ran his hand from Eddie’s shoulder down to his wrist and dropped his arm back to his own side. Eddie could’ve sworn he felt some kind of shock where he was touched.

Eddie gave Richie a very small smile and tried his best not to come off as too grouchy. He didn’t want to take it out on his friend. “Pulled an all nighter doing chem homework that I’ve missed because of you know who and my constant appointments.” He tried to keep a friendly expression but it turned sour at the mention of his mother and what she puts him through for absolutely no reason. “I’m okay, though. Thanks for asking.”

“Anything for my Eds. You still wanna come over after school? I’ll understand if you wanna just rest, no big deal. Maybe I’ll even walk you home so I can say hi to Mrs. K.” Richie laughed as he added the last sentence, taking in Eddie’s annoyed but playful glare. 

The smaller boy gently pushed Richie’s shoulder. “I’m still coming over. I can just rest with you. We can watch a movie or something.” He looked at his shoes as a light blush dusted over his already rosy cheeks. He would do anything to spend time with Richie if it meant that he didn’t have to go home for a few extra hours. 

\----

The day seemed to go on and on as Eddie fought off the urge to let his head fall to his desk. Math was the worst of it. The teacher let them have a full class to just get work done which meant Eddie didn’t have to pay attention to anything new, only making it harder for him to keep his eyes open.

He was pretty quiet at lunch and his friends seemed to notice. They didn’t push him to tell them what was up. Maybe Richie told them. But Beverly did ask to make sure he was okay when his head almost dropped to his peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Richie had to shake him a little bit to wake him up enough do that he could finish eating, keeping a hand around his shoulder for some support. Richie looked down at the small boy and shot him a look asking if he was good to go the rest of the day. Eddie just nodded and sluggishly finished his lunch.

The last bell of the day could not have come quick enough. Eddie packed his things so fast and practically bolted out the door with the energy he had saved for Richie. He walked down the hall and to the tall boy’s locker; their usual meeting spot.

“Eds! How are you feeling?” Richie asked, genuinely wondering. He looked at Eddie in a way that made the short boy’s freckled face light up in a light pink blush.

Eddie cleared his throat and said, “I’m feeling a little better than this morning. I was waiting to hang out with you all day.” He blushed harder after he realized what he had said. Richie was blushing, too. “Let’s go, Tozier.”

The walk to Richie’s house was pretty much silent except for Richie telling a short story about something that happened in his english class that morning. Eddie smiled and nodded along while their hands brushed each other lightly. After about the fourth time that happened, Eddie got nervous and put both hands on the handles of his bike to walk it down the street.

When they got to Richie’s house at the end of the street, there were no cars in the driveway. They both did a mental fist pump, both for different reasons. Richie enjoyed being home alone; he could blast music, dance around the house, watch movies he wasn’t really allowed to watch. Eddie just wanted time alone with Richie. As much as Eddie loved Maggie Tozier like she were his own mother, she wouldn’t really leave them alone when she was there. She always had something to talk about.

The sound of keys jingling broke Eddie out of his trance. He watched as Richie unlocked the door and pushed it open, stepping aside to let Eddie walk in first. Once they were both in Richie closed the door and locked it behind them. They took their shoes off and Richie started walking toward the stairs, Eddie following behind him.

Every time Eddie enters Richie’s room he gets butterflies in his stomach. When he looks around at the dark blue walls and curtains and the array of things littering his dresser, he gets this feeling that he is just surrounded by Richie. He doesn’t even acknowledge the mess of clothes that are just thrown into the corner of the room. He loves being in Richie’s room.

Both boys drop their bags on the floor at the foot of the bed and Eddie takes a seat at Richie’s desk chair while Richie plops down on his bed. “So, do you want to just do some homework for an hour or so? Then we can just relax if you want.” Richie raised his eyebrows, waiting for an answer.

Eddie nodded. “Yeah, I still have some work to catch up on. Maybe you could help me with this chem sheet. I know you’re good at that stuff.” He grabbed his notebooks out of his bag and took a seat next to Richie on the bed.

“I’m good at a lot of things, Eds,” Richie said, smirking and wiggling his eyebrows.

“You’re lucky I don’t have the energy to hit you right now, Tozier.”

Richie just laughed and scooted closer to Eddie, sitting cross legged so their knees were touching. Eddie felt warmth spread across his face and he looked down at his notes. Richie tilted the notebook so that he could see Eddie’s perfect notes and began to write things down in the margins of the sheet that would help Eddie understand the questions better. Then, he went back to his own work. 

Every couple questions, Eddie would look over quickly and steal a glance at Richie. He noticed how Richie’s brows furrowed when he didn’t understand a question and how they relaxed and the corners of his mouth lifted slightly when he finally got it. When he looked over again he noticed the way Richie was drumming his fingers along the side of his leg to some unknown beat. The next time, though, Richie was already looking at him with a grin so Eddie, blushing as always, quickly looked away and wrote down his answer on the line. 

It wasn’t until a sudden voice pulled him out of his deep concentration that Eddie looked over again. “I’m done,” Richie said, “Need any help still?” 

Eddie shook his head and recorded his last answer for the worksheet he was working on for the past thirty minutes. “I think I’m okay. But thank you, Rich.” 

They shared a warm grin and Richie took Eddie’s books from his lap and his own and moved them to his desk. “Wanna go watch a movie downstairs?” Eddie nodded in response and swung his leg over the side of the bed to stand up.

They went into the kitchen first to grab some snacks and drinks and then they made their way into the family room to choose a movie. Eddie told Richie he didn’t care what they watched so Richie went over to his movie collection and pulled out a random comedy he hadn’t seen in a while. He put the movie in the player and grabbed the remote to skip through the trailers and press play.

They were sat on the couch next to each other with a little space in between them. Richie was sitting with his feet on the floor while Eddie had his knees pulled to his chest and his arms wrapped around his shins with his chin resting on his knees. The air was on in Richie’s house and Eddie was feeling a little cold. Richie noticed.

“Are you cold, Eds?” He touched Eddie’s bare arms. “Shit, you’re freezing. Take my hoodie and I’ll go get a blanket.”

Eddie just looked at him. “No, Rich, it’s fine. You don’t have to get up.” But the hoodie had already been thrown at him and Richie was standing up to get a blanket from the closet in the hallway. Eddie sighed and slipped the sweatshirt over his head. The arms were too long and it fell to the middle of his thighs. It smelled nice, though, Eddie noticed. It smelled like it had just been washed and it had a new type of cologne that Richie hadn’t usually worn. Eddie liked it. 

When Richie got back with the blanket, he stopped and took in the sight of Eddie in his hoodie.  _ Cute, cute, cute!  _ Richie thought. He sat back down,closer to the small boy this time and threw the blanket over them both. He didn’t grab the biggest one had on purpose. He put his arm around Eddie’s shoulders and pulled him into his side. “Should be nice and warm now.” Richie pushed a button on the side of the couch and the recliners came up so that they could stretch their legs out under the blanket and lay back. 

They watched the movie silently and about halfway through, Richie felt Eddie’s breathing grow heavier and looked down to see that the boy’s eyes were closed and he was, in fact, asleep. Richie smiled at the cute sleeping boy laying next to him and turned his attention back to the movie. What he hadn’t expected was for an arm to come across his waist and a pair of legs to tangle with his own. 

Richie looked down and Eddie’s head was now resting on Richie’s chest. He could just barely see Eddie’s long lashes kissing the tops of he cheeks and the freckles on his nose. His arm was loosely placed over Richie’s waist and his leg came up and over near Richie’s hips, the other leg staying straight next to Richie’s. Richie took his left ankle and placed it gently over the smaller one. He let out a small laugh through his nose and smiled, not able to believe how adorable Eddie was. And he was  _ not _ expecting Eddie to be so clingy as he was a bit of a hypochondriac after all.

Eddie didn’t move for the rest of the movie and for about an hour, Richie just sat there and stared at him while gently running his hands through the small boy’s hair. Richie knew there was something going on and that Eddie needed to get some rest. He just hadn’t thought that it would happen like this. He wasn’t necessarily complaining, though. After a while, sleep had caught up to him as well and he dozed off with one arm around Eddie and the other still in his hair. 

They slept in each other’s arms for two hours, neither of them moving an inch. That is, until an alarm went off on Eddie’s phone, causing him to stir awake. At first, he wasn’t sure what he laying on until he saw the familiar navy blue of Richie’s t-shirt under his cheek. He noticed his position around Richie’s body and immediately flushed bright red. 

He tried to get up but Richie’s arm was still holding Eddie tight against his chest. Eddie knew he’d have to wake Richie up somehow. He moved his arm up and tapped his fingers against Richie’s shoulder. He whispered, “Richie, let me up, please.” Richie slowly opened his eyes and removed his arm from around Eddie’s small frame. 

Eddie sat up and lifted the blanket to see that Richie’s ankle was still tangled with his own. He sighed and said, “Sorry, Rich. I didn’t mean to sleep on you. You could’ve moved me, you know.”

“Didn’t want to. You looked so peaceful. And maybe I didn’t hate cuddling with you. You’re just so  _ cute _ , Eds!” Richie playfully ruffled Eddie’s curly hair. “I like your hair like this. It looks so much more you.”

They were both blushing now. Eddie let out a nervous laugh, a funny fluttering feeling in the pit of his stomach. “Thank you for letting me nap here. I should get going, though. Come to mine tomorrow?”

“Only if we can do this again.” Richie winked.

“In your dreams, Tozier. Sorry again.” 

Eddie grabbed his bag and headed toward the door, fighting the smile that was threatening to break across his face. Just before he opened the front door, Richie called out to him, “Don’t be sorry, my little Eds! I don’t mind.” And the grin finally forced its way out.


End file.
